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Update on East Timor, 21 Jun 2006 =20 ******** Please circulate ******************** Prime Minister Alkatiri makes President Gusmao think twice Today began looking very bad. The news was that on Tuesday June 20,=20 the President sent an envelope to the Prime Minister containing a=20 video tape of the June 19 4 Corners program from ABC TV in=20 Australia, and a letter requiring him to resign by 5pm or he would=20 be sacked. This amounts to a threat to breach of the Constitution.=20 The 4 Corners program alleges that Fretilin created hit squads on=20 the orders of Mari Alkatiri the Prime Minister and party general=20 secretary. Perhaps fortunately, the Prime Minister did not open the envelope=20 until later that night, well after 5pm. However, the President had=20 taken no action at the deadline. A meeting of the Council of State was convened at about 10.30 am on=20 June 21 - it is a 15 person advisory council for the President and=20 makes no decision. At the meeting, the President repeated his=20 request for the Prime Minister to resign. The Prime Minister=20 declined the request. The President then said that if the Prime Minister would not resign,=20 then he would resign. But the Prime Minister told him not to do that=20 by any means, and that he would resign first. The Foreign Minister=20 proposed that Alkatiri hand over to two Vice Prime Ministers. The Prime Minister told that they had to realise that if he resigned=20 under these circumstances that his whole government would resign,=20 and the FRETILIN members would be antagonised, the Budget may not=20 pass through the Parliament and the Electoral Law will be delayed,=20 and all in all this would not be good for the country or make things=20 any better. That prospect surprised both the President and the Foreign Minister. The Prime Minister said that it was not up to him alone to decide=20 whether to resign, and he had to consult with FRETILIN and with the=20 Cabinet (Council of Ministers). The meeting ended with the Prime Minister undertaking to inform the=20 President of the decision after these consultations. The FRETILIN=20 National Political Commission will meet on June 22 in the morning,=20 and in the afternoon the Prime Minister and the President of the=20 Parliament will inform the President of their views of the NPC. On=20 Friday morning the Cabinet will meet. On Saturday the FRETILIN=20 Central Committee will meet. So perhaps on Sunday or Monday there=20 will be an announcement of the outcome of this process. However, the psychology of the day went against the President. He=20 has demanded the resignation of the Prime Minister two days in a row=20 and he has not received it. Neither the President nor Foreign=20 Minister were talking to the media or the Australian Embassy after=20 the Council of State meeting today. The Australian military has been more and more aggressive in telling=20 people that Alkatiri is the 'ex-Prime Minister' or demanding that=20 people tell them who they support. They raised the Australian Flag=20 at the Non-Formal Education building at Vilaverde today, after=20 stopping the Timorese flag from being raised. This compound is being=20 used by the Education Ministry, and also used as a dormitory for=20 some Australian soldiers. On June 9 two Australian helicopters flew to Lospalos at the eastern=20 end of the island to tell people there to support the President and=20 oppose the Prime Minister. They were surprised by a very angry=20 reaction and had to make a hasty departure. The resigned Interior Minister Rogerio Lobato has been questioned by=20 the police about the secret death squad allegations, but has not=20 been arrested. He is at his home and has visited other homes in the=20 area today, but he has Australian soldiers at his house. The=20 Prosecutor-General said on TV on the night news on Juen 21 that=20 there was an arrest warrant for Lobato but it had not been=20 implemented. At about 6pm on June 21, some people tried to burn down the=20 Prosecutor-General's home, but the fire brigade put out the fire in=20 time. There was a threat to burn his house on June 20. There is=20 anger at him for not arresting the Prime Minister and not arresting=20 Lobato. There were many homes burnt in Dili again this evening. As far as I can tell from FRETILIN people, there is very strong=20 support for Mari Alkatiri, and there is a determination to resolve=20 the current tension with the President in a way which will uphold=20 the Constitution, respect the position of FRETILIN, help to end the=20 sustained period of crisis in the country, and really enable the=20 2007 elections to take place. The danger is that the forces that want to change the government=20 will not give up, especially now that they have pushed the President=20 to the very brink of breaking the Constitution. Peter Murphy, Dili, East Timor, June 21, 2006 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| pnews-news - (NEWS) - Send "subscribe" or "unsub" in subject to pnews-news-request(at)inyourface.info pnews-views - (VIEWS) - Send "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" as subject to pnews-views-request(at)inyourface.info |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Everything begins at The Worm Hole: http://pnews.org/ ----- Something Really Nice for your Honey - http://blackhillsg0ld.com/ Something Really Sexy for Her for Holloween: http://tinyurl.com/q878y --------------------------------------------- NEVER pay for a podcast again: Check it out - http://tinyurl.com/mnr7r -----
